How To (Howto) Domain Names

How To (Howto) Domain Names

What if you’ve registered your domain name(s) but then found your current registrar’s support inadequate? Or you’ve found another that offers cheaper renewal rates. Or maybe, you just want to consolidate your domain name holdings under one company? For whatever reason you want to transfer, three things come to mind.

Exactly how do you go about the transfer? How much will it cost you? And how long will it take?

How?

The process varies from registrar to registrar. Some registrars ask you to fax or mail in a form (downloadable from their site) which may or may not need to be notarized. Others may use a web-based form. Either way, the concept is basically the same and does not need any technical know-how. Go to your new registrar’s site and initiate a transfer request (a link is usually provided). Approve the transfer confirmation email sent by the new registrar to your domain’s Admin contact email (you can use the WHOIS lookup to find this out). Once the new registrar submits the transfer request, the old registrar will then have 5 days to either accept or reject the transfer. Look for and approve a second email, this time from your old registrar, confirming your intent to transfer away from them. You need do this within 3 days or else the transfer request is cancelled. If the old registrar however does not respond within the prescribed period, the transfer is considered approved and transferred to the new registrar. Verify the success of the transfer by checking your WHOIS record again. An additional year should be added to the expiration date and the technical contact listed should be the new registrar (or it might have your details instead) Steps 2 and 3 are important because InterNic will not accept the transfer request without authorization from either the Administrative or Technical Contact for the domain. You might also need to modify your domain’s DNS using your new registrar’s administration tool.

In some cases, your old registrar may deny the transfer. The most common reasons for this include:

The domain name is in legal dispute

The identity of the domain name holder is in dispute or unknown

The domain name holder is in bankruptcy

The domain has only been with the registrar for 60 days

The current admin contact’s email address was unable to confirm the transfer request

The domain name owner has waited until the end of the registration period and the renewal fee is past due

How much?

Again, it varies. Many registrars will do the transfer at no cost. Some will charge from $5 upwards. Mostly, registrars will charge you only for the cost of renewal (which is typically for one year).

How long?

The whole cycle usually takes about 7 to 10 days. (From initiation of transfer, up until the changes made are propagated through the Internet.)

Key lessons that stand out:

renew domain first

your account may be locked until transfer is finalized

you might have problems transferring out from ItsYourDomain.com or domainsnext.com

it’s not advisable to buy domain names from resellers as there seem to be a lack of recourse should you have complaints against them